A Cure for Writer's Block™

Writing a story in six minutes, with a ticking timer and a surprise prompt, is an adrenaline rush.

It will invigorate your mind for the entire day, helping you create more (and more and more) original art.

Which is, as Kurt Vonnegut said, "a way to make your soul grow."

The alien craft exploded invisible to the human eye. The inhabitants had exited over an hour ago, running amazingly fast past the animals lying lazily on the sun scorched land who barely gave them a glance, such was their speed.

Marsha's mom said a second rosary just before going to bed after the long and happy day that was Marsha's wedding. She had never believed that her plain yet loving daughter could have made such a good match. Tom was not only clever, strong and good looking but he was such a homely man, loved helping with the farm, crops...

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We use a few kinds of prompts to cure writer's block.

Images, start lines, and something of our own concoction: a Hero, a Villain, and a Goal. Use these to jumpstart your imagination, and feel free to follow the inspiration wherever you want.

Recent prompts See All Prompts

Hero
a man who always gets his words muddled up
Villain
a woman who keeps weapons in her beehive hairdo
Goal
killing granny
He panicked as he looked down. He couldn't believe what he was looking at.
by manfred majer on flickr.
Licensed under: .

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Lorenzo and his army waited outside the city gates, preparing to overthrow King Prime.

"How are we going to get in?" his general asked. "His guards outnumber us three to one."

"I'm thinking," Lorenzo said. "Okay, I've got it. Drop your weapons. We're going to be delivery guys."

"We're all going to be delivery guys?"

"Yeah," Lorenzo replied. "Everyone go back home and grab something you won't miss and put it in a box. Then we pile all of the boxes outside the gate at midnight. In the morning, all of the guards come out to open the boxes and...

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Cupid said,
"Nobody knows or cares who I am."
"I'm just one of the pack."
Channeling Jan Brady, he added, "Everyone just cares about Rudolph, Rudolph, Rudolph!"
"Sure, he helped us out that ONE TIME, and now everyone can't stock singing about him."
"He wasn't even in 'The Night Before Christmas." It was On Dasher, On Dancer ... but Rudolph was still in the minors!'
Channeling Rodney Dangerfield, he added, "I get no respect at all. Even PRANCER had a movie made about him.
"I'm not even the most famous Cupid out there! It's that angel baby that shoots people...

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Cindy yawned and stretched as she started her day. It was time to walk her pet octopus.

She pulled Ollie out of his protective shell, and they walked across the ocean floor.

"Good morning!" she called to Wally the Whale.

Suddenly, Wally decided to give Cindy and Ollie a ride by lifting them up, completely out of the ocean and depositing them on the sandy shore.

"Mom! Dad! Where have you been?"

"We've been right here. You took a nap."

"Yeah, I just had the craziest dream. I lived on the ocean floor, and I could breathe underwater and everything....

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The bear was furious. He was knocking on doors, climbing stairs, and waiting for elevators, and he couldn't find Goldilocks' apartments. It was like one of those frustration dreams.

Finally, the door to Apartment 404 swung open. He peeked inside and found a photo of Goldilocks' family. All blondes. He was in the right place.

"Where's the porridge?"

No porridge. He had to make it himself, and it was too hot!

What about the chairs? They were out on the balcony. Were they too hard? Too soft? Who knows? It was snowing outside.

"I'm glad I can finally get to...

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The woolly mammoth lined up for the next event in the prehistoric Winter Olympics: the 400 meter speed skating competition.

This wasn't going to be easy, but he had been practicing. He picked up some momentum and started gliding around the ice, as the other mammoths and dinosaurs cheered for him.

Despite his bulk, the mammoth was in the lead. The other contestants, mostly moose and elk, had wiped out on the ice.

Coming down the home stretch, victory was in sight.

Suddenly, a group of ice snakes slithered onto the track, determined to stop the mammoth's victory party.

The...

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